The Story Of Us - Teri Wilson Page 0,63
year, after all.
Chapter Seventeen
Eliot prowled along the Valentine’s display table at True Love Books & Cafe the following afternoon, tiptoeing on his tiny ginger feet. His red heart-shaped tag dangled from his collar as he meowed at customers who stopped to pet him before selecting a letter from two baskets labeled Harrison and Mary.
Jamie smiled at her bookshop kitty. He seemed to be enjoying the huge influx of Valentine’s Day shoppers as much as she and Lucy were. Before the store opened its doors earlier in the morning, a line of people had already formed outside, anxious for another installment in Mary and Harrison’s saga. All day long, gasps could be heard throughout the store as readers finally learned that the lovestruck couple had been the original owners of True Love Books. It was the perfect Valentine surprise.
It was also proving to be quite good for business. By noon, they’d already topped the store’s all-time record for sales in a single day, and they still had hours to go. Jamie could finally breathe a little easier. She couldn’t imagine being forced to close True Love’s doors—not after the way they’d been able to bring the community together over the past couple of weeks. Even better, all the new foot traffic in the store seemed to be spilling over into the other shops in the business district. The town council had to vote against Ridley tomorrow. They just had to.
It still wasn’t a done deal, obviously, but Jamie felt confident enough about the fate of True Love that sometime in the afternoon, she started thinking less and less about the Ridley project and more and more about her date with Sawyer later that evening. She let herself dream and imagine what it might feel like to be Sawyer’s Valentine again. Just like yesterday…
Only better.
Maybe Shakespeare had been onto something when he’d written past is prologue. Jamie hoped so…she hoped so with her whole heart.
She darted to the back of the store to unzip her garment bag and hang up the dress she planned on changing into before Sawyer came to escort her to dinner. The fabric was blush pink, and the dress had a full, dreamy ballerina skirt with delicate silk chiffon pleats. She planned on pairing it with tights and her favorite kitten heels. In the meantime, she still had an hour or so to go in her skinny jeans and lavender cable-knit sweater.
She pushed up her sleeves and returned to the sales floor, but her steps slowed when she spotted a familiar woman with a glossy blond bob checking out the Valentine’s-themed display.
Jamie squinted. Was that Dana Sutton from Ridley?
No, it couldn’t be.
What would Sawyer’s boss be doing in True Love Books, lifting one of Harrison’s letters from the basket and turning it over to examine the red wax seal?
Jamie glanced at Eliot, who meowed loudly, as if to confirm her suspicions. Ridley Development was right here in the building.
If ever there was a moment to face things head-on, it was now. Jamie nodded at her cat, squared her shoulders and marched right up to Dana as if she were any other customer instead of Sawyer’s supervisor and all-around enemy of history and the written word.
“Ms. Sutton, right?” Jamie said, flashing a smile. After all, maybe this visit meant good news. Maybe Ridley was withdrawing its development proposal.
“Hello, Ms. Vaughn.” Dana returned the unopened gray envelope in her hands to the basket.
Eliot flicked his tail and hopped down from the table.
Okay, then. Jamie would apparently be handling this conversation on her own. “Well, this is a surprise. What brings you in?”
“I thought I would stop by on my way to the festival.” Dana nodded as she glanced around the bustling bookshop. “I have to say, Ms. Vaughn, generating that article was a deft move. The love letters are popular as well.”
So far, so good. “Thank you.”
Dana’s polite smile faded. “But by now, you must realize it’s a losing battle.”
Jamie felt the words as if they were a physical blow to her chest. Still…the other woman couldn’t be correct. Business was booming—and the effect it was bound to have on the other businesses was sure to prove that the business district could revitalize itself all on its own.
“Oh, no. Not at all.” She gestured toward the crush of people in line for cupcakes and then at the sitting area, where an impromptu book club was poring over the latest Hallmark romance novel. “I mean, look around.”
Dana’s expression remained unnervingly stoic.